American markets suffered their steepest declines since March 2020 on Thursday, the first full day of trading since Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs announcement. The S&P 500 lost nearly $2trn in value, dropping by 5%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell by almost 6%. The share prices of tech companies, whose supply chains rely on overseas manufacturing, saw significant drops: Apple and Meta were both down 9%; Nvidia fell by 8%.
Canada announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on American car imports. The measures largely mirror American measures for foreign-produced cars that took effect on Thursday, which exempt cars that comply with a North American trade pact negotiated by Mr Trump in his first term. Canada, alongside Mexico, dodged steep new levies introduced by Mr Trump’s administration on Wednesday.
South Korea’s constitutional court upheld the impeachment of president Yoon Suk Yeol, removing him from office. The ousting means that a presidential election must be held within 60 days. Mr Yoon was impeached last year after briefly declaring martial law, which he hoped would “alert the public” to the “wickedness” of the opposition. The court said he had “violated the basic principles of a democratic state”.
Donald Trump reportedly fired at least three members of America’s National Security Council at the urging of Laura Loomer, an extreme right-wing activist. On Wednesday Ms Loomer met Mr Trump and some cabinet members—including Mike Waltz, the national security adviser—at the White House, where she apparently offered a list of people she said were disloyal to the president.
Russia will provide weapons and training to the Alliance of Sahel States, a grouping of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The three west African countries, each ruled by juntas, signed a defence pact in 2023; they left ECOWAS, the regional bloc, this January. Russia has expanded its influence in the Sahel by sending mercenaries and other support to the juntas.
Puma named Arthur Hoeld as its new CEO. A former head of sales at Adidas, Mr Hoeld helped the rival shoemaker boost sales of retro models. Puma, whose shares fell by around 50% in the past year, missed out on the trend. Earlier Puma’s stock collapsed a further 11% after American announced tariffs on its key manufacturing bases of Vietnam and China.
Kirill Dmitriev, a point man for Vladimir Putin, visited Washington to meet members of the Trump administration. Mr Dmitriev, who runs a Russian state investment fund, is expected to discuss Ukraine with Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s foreign-policy dealmaker. America has sought a rapprochement with Russia, though Mr Trump recently expressed frustration at the Kremlin over the slow progress of ceasefire talks.
Figure of the day: 70%, the share of Syrians who say they are optimistic about the future. Read the full story.
Donald Trump’s return to the presidency has brought exceptional changes to American politics—with consequences for the rest of the world, too. Read The US in brief, a daily update of the domestic political stories that matter. Sign up here to receive it as a newsletter, each weekday, in your inbox.